Inside Look

Unreal Championship 2 brings melee combat and fighting-game sensibilities to the venerable shooter franchise.

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Epic Games' Unreal franchise has covered a lot of territory since its introduction in 1998, evolving from a linear, story-driven shooter into a series of competitive twitch-action games that are even played professionally by the most skilled hardcore gamers. Unreal's initial Xbox outing, 2002's Unreal Championship, was a functional but admittedly bare-bones port of its PC-based contemporary, Unreal Tournament 2003. But Epic has taken a more proactive approach in crafting the follow-up, Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict. We recently visited Epic's Raleigh, North Carolina-based development studio and discovered that while UC2 definitely isn't your daddy's Unreal, it does look like one of the most complex and feature-packed Xbox Live games on the block.

Microsoft initially requested that Epic produce another quick Xbox port of its latest PC-based Unreal, but Epic president Mike Capps says the team felt compelled to go the extra mile and make Unreal Championship 2 a unique game with design aspects that would appeal to console-specific gamers. With that goal in mind, Epic has taken some of the most fundamental elements from Unreal Tournament--basic weapons and characters, mechanics, and the prevailing aesthetic--and made some considerable additions and tweaks that have significantly altered the feel of the game. The result, in our experience so far, feels almost as much like a fighting game as it does a traditional shooter.

Up to this point, Unreal has been strictly first-person fare, so the biggest and most obvious addition to The Liandri Conflict is the option of a third-person perspective. Capps says this feature initially grew out of some Asian territories' dislike for first-person-only console games; ironically, UC2 isn't currently slated to ship in Asia. Regardless, the new perspective has allowed the designers to implement a melee combat feature that will radically change the feel of the gameplay. At any time during a match, you'll be able to switch from your guns to your default melee weapon and perform light and heavy attacks that deal substantial damage to your opponent. The melee attacks will have to be used strategically, since skilled ranged players will still be able to pick you off from a distance.

The third-person perspective totally changes the game, letting you perform acrobatic feats that would be impossible in first-person.

UC2's new melee feature will come in handy for more than just dealing direct damage. While in melee mode, you'll be able to erect a front energy shield that will block any incoming fire or melee hits for a short period. This shield has a finite reserve of energy, though, so you can't run around blocking all the time; you'll have to use it strategically. More interestingly, you'll be able to deflect any projectile attacks with your melee weapon--with the proper timing, that is. If your timing is close, you'll bat incoming fire off to the side. But if you hit the deflect button at precisely the right moment, you'll send it straight back at the source with a little bit of extra damage as a nice bonus. This deflect move works for all projectiles--rockets, energy fire, and even sniper shots--and two skilled players can even get into a back-and-forth deflection match where the projectile will pick up more and more damage until it finally splatters the unfortunate soul who doesn't hit the right timing.

The third-person perspective has made the standard Unreal gameplay feel a lot more, well, acrobatic. Dodging and wall-jumping have long been an important part of playing Unreal Tournament competitively, but UC2 takes these moves to a new level. A skilled player will be able to double-jump toward a wall, then wall-jump to an even greater height, then enact a special power to catch even more air and escape pursuers. The level designers have built more-vertical levels this time around so players can take advantage of these jumping abilities, and many maps will have secret areas that you can reach only through a combination of properly timed jumps.

There will even be a basic lock-on feature that you can use to help manage the action in third-person. This will by no means help direct your shots; rather, it will keep your targets from moving offscreen by having the camera loosely track them whenever they move to the edges. We found the lock-on to be essential in any melee fight, and it will be one of the features that skilled UC2 players will pick up on immediately. You'll be able to switch back to first-person to use your guns whenever you want, but even the ranged combat feels natural in third-person. Considering also the increased jumping abilities, we'd wager many players will be happy to just leave the game in third-person at all times.

Each character in the game has his or her own distinct attributes and special powers.

A lot of UC2's fighting-game feel comes from what goes on not during the match, but before it. You'll begin every match by selecting from a stable of characters that begins with seven and will total 14 once you've unlocked everything. Each character has distinctive attributes in terms of strength and agility, as well as unique racial traits that can help or hinder you during battle. (Robotic characters will be more affected by electricity-based attacks, for instance.) These aren't just superficial differences; your choice of character makes a huge difference in the feel of the gameplay. Faster characters will have to rely more on evading attacks while making quick strikes, while the bruisers are able to wade in and withstand more damage while delivering punishing melee attacks. Players who get serious about competing in the game online will quickly identify their favorite characters, and they'll certainly learn to exploit the weaknesses of other characters to win.